Tournament

Alabama Bass Trail 100 Lake Wedowee with Brian Adamson and Ryan Lloyd

By Jason Duran

The 2023 Alabama Bass Trail 100 season is here.  For the first stop of three events, teams will be introduced to a new lake. This year Lake Wedowee has been added to the schedule. Hosted by the Randolph County Chamber of Commerce, Lake Wedowee is home to 9,870 acres at full pool, and the team of Brian Adamson and Ryan Lloyd have the pleasure of calling Lake Wedowee Home.  

Brian and Ryan are excited to see the ABT 100 come to their home lake. “We have spent many years driving to fish other teams’ home lakes, and we finally get to fish at our home lake. We are excited to fish a tournament this big on our home lake and are especially excited that Wedowee Marine is the launch location.” They both purchased their Phoenix Boats from Wedowee Marine and were “really impressed with the service received from the whole team at Wedowee Marine. It is by far the best service around.”

Ryan shared that the lake is normally a clear lake full of timber. Right now, the lake is at winter pool and is about 7 feet below full pool making some of the upper reaches of the river dangerous and shallow. The lake has been clear all winter long, but the recent rains have muddied the entire lake which changed the fishing. The majority of the fish in Lake Wedowee live in the timber most of their life, but the muddy water has pushed the fish shallow.   

Lake Wedowee can be divided up into two areas with Alabama Highway 48 cutting the lake in half. To the north, the lake is fed by two rivers: the Big Tallapoosa and the Little Tallapoosa. These two rivers come together right at AL-48. In this direction, the water is accessible about 15 miles upriver. To the south, the lake spreads out a little bit for about 10 miles to the dam. 

A typical wintertime pattern will come into play this weekend. “Teams will be targeting fish in the less that 10-feet range throwing shallow crank baits and chatter baits. With the muddy water it could push groups of fish up dirt shallow this weekend.” Most teams will target fish to the north up the big and little rivers. “The lake is relatively small, so teams will likely spend time in each river and rotating through those areas multiple times because of how close it is from one river to the other. Teams will find an abundance of points and rocks providing great ambush points for fish. They may also use a shaky head or jig in these areas.  The fishing has been good all day long for us in practice. 

A key factor in this weekend’s event will be the slot limit. There is a 13-16 inches slot limit on largemouth bass. All largemouth bass must be under 13 inches or over 16 inches in order to be counted as a legal bass. “This lake is abundant with fish, and teams should not have a problem catching fish. The key will be catching fish over 16 inches. There is a good chance we will see a team weigh in an 8-pound fish; we may even see multiple teams with an 8-pounder.”

Catching numbers is not a problem; it’s just finding the right size.” The team predicts the winning weight this weekend will be 21-22 pounds with 13-pounds getting a check. Teams will catch a bunch of fish. 

Brian and Ryan warn the ABT teams coming to Lake Wedowee to be careful navigating the lake. This lake is full of timber- some you can see and some just below the surface. It’s best to stay in the middle when going upriver. They again encourage new boaters to the lake to not chance running areas they don’t know. They compare it to a smaller version of Lake Martin. 

The Pre-Tournament meeting will be held January 19, 2023, at 

Wedowee Marine South 9681 AL-48 in Lineville, AL.

Check In: 4:30 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
Pre-Tournament Meeting: 6:00 P.M.

Tune in to the Alabama Bass Trail 100 Facebook page and the Alabama Bass Trail 100 Website (www.alabamabasstrail100.org) for live on the water coverage and live weigh in. All friends and family are welcome to attend this event; bring lawn chairs. Blast off and weigh in will take place at Wedowee Marine South 9681 AL-48 Lineville, AL 36266

Download and listen to the ABT Podcast on your favorite Podcast app by searching for “Alabama Bass Trail Podcast.”  The Podcast is released each week on Tuesday. 

The sponsors of the 2022 Alabama Bass Trail 100 include; Phoenix Bass Boats, Bill Penney Automotive Group, Banjio Sunglasses, Garmin,  America’s First Federal Credit Union, Sweet Home Alabama, Alabama Tourism Department, T-H Marine Supplies, Big Bite Bait Company, Black Rifle Coffee Company,  Anheuser - Busch, Inc., fishalabama.org, Freedom Tackle Corp, Halo Fishing, NetBait, and Scum Frog